Finally Stopped Falling
by poohxebony
Summary: Dedicated to one of the best and misunderstood espadas in the series. From the day of his 'rebirth' to the day of his 'demise' again, he no longer feels those solemn marks on his face in the end. Some UlquixOrihime moments. Hope you enjoy and review.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Wat up peoples! I finally switched up and made my very first Bleach fanfic for once. This is dedicated to one of my favorite characters, the bad-ass Ulquiorra. I hope I narrowed his personality and demeanor down good enough. So, please enjoy yourselves and don't forget to review and comment after the story. Thanks a bunch!

* * *

I don't recall any other life before the one Lord Aizen has granted me. It isn't like I am unable to remember. It's only unnecessary to do so. Trying to recollect memories that never existed is foolishness, simply a waste of time and energy. Such habits only matter to those weak, insolent humans with no purpose or self-preservation. For they are nothing more but mere trash.

My purpose requires the same purpose of every creature here in Hueco Mundo; to serve and be a convenient use of our fellow master. Lord Aizen has given all of us life, power, agenda, and reasons for fighting. These are the qualities we only need to know. His word in Las Noches is law, and not one of us takes a second thought of honoring his fearless, godly genius existence. I for one am no exception.

Power has never been a desirable issue for me to obsess over, nor do I care to crave more of it. Whatever gift I am given, I use them to the fullest extent in order to accomplish orders for my lord. Be it my comrades or worthy enemies to my liking, I would exterminate anyone who stands in my way from duties. After all, the espada are personally trash as well. Some are worse or despicably ignorant than others, specifically Grimmjow.

I never question Lord Aizen's decisions, but it still leaves me wondering what inspired him to create these simpleton individuals as a team in his castle. They are as good as acting like a human from the real world than being faithfully relied on our lord's time. Most of my comrades act careless by letting emotions or personal desires get the best of them, over clouding their rational senses. Pathetic. Such antics only leave a warrior hesitate when having a sword drawn out to him or destroyed in battle. I am all about materialism and nihilism.

Everyone and everything in my surroundings are just trash. They are just a waste of my time to spend with. The espada are known to be my 'brothers' for Lord Aizen is our maker, but they never hold any values in my eyes. Values and companionship do not exist either, for I am unable to see those proofs through my eyes like everything else. Regardless, I know my place and mine alone. And I continue being the fourth warrior, following whatever path Lord Aizen will lead us to see.

Then she appears. The woman known to be Lord Aizen's new obsession as a source key for ultimate rule. She is the main trigger that has started this fulfilling war with the Soul Society finally.

Orihime Inoue.

That ordinarily weak, oblivious little human girl who proves to be a nuisance to those around her. It truly looked that way on my first visit to the living world with Yammy on a mission. The moment I set eyes on her, she was nothing but a fragile, feeble mortal who is unable to stand her own guard in a fight. How pathetic indeed. That very fact made me categorize her as pure trash even more, along with the rest of her kind. The woman is nothing but a waste of space.

Although….she demonstrates that she's not 'ordinary' entirely for a mere human. I have to admit, I was quite surprised when witnessing this unusual, fascinating ability coming from her. Whether it's partial or spatial regression, it is a power beyond healing abilities or other sorcery. It is none other but rejection of all phenomena, a gift to reject, limit, and deny all happenings to their original state before events change them. This is a power that is too superior for anyone to endure. As Lord Aizen once stated, it's even a divine power that surpasses the gods themselves. Therefore, it's all the more reason she is a new use to him and why she's here on our side.

As much as I always do my biddings with whatever Lord Aizen wishes me to do, I personally don't finding it enjoyable being the 'pet-keeper' while she's held as our prisoner. Knowing there are other important things that I could be a use of doing for the war, I have no choice but obey such orders since Lord Aizen wants her to stay alive. The woman is certainly not the kind of company I would prefer to be around, nor is it the same about me when she sense my presence. She is obviously not bright, and is easily persuading to fall for any kind of psychological dilemmas concerning the ones she cares about, these 'friends' she calls them. What a strange human she is. Her helplessness and ranting over the impossible are just annoying and a waste of my time. This meaningless babysitting is trash. But still….the woman does hold some kind of small interest that I discover.

Including her strange, yet strong spirit that carries along the helplessness and fear in her eyes. I don't know where this high belief and optimism comes from, especially in her position right now. Optimism and faithfulness are ridiculous. I never heard of such terms, therefore they do not exist. But she always shows something coming out of her when forcing encouragement of defiance or refusing to eat. Most importantly, that very same reaction greatly erupts at the mention of her comrades. Those pathetic, useless soul reapers that come to her aid. Honestly, a shame how they don't realize it's a waste of time rescuing her. They should know better not to enter an enemy's den when they're unable to reach the highest peak of success. No matter how hard they try, they can never prevail over Lord Aizen. It's basically suicide they're performing. And yet…they continue to go along with everything from us. I don't understand why they take these measures, risking their lives like this. All for her?

How can this woman become an importance to both humans and soul reapers? She doesn't even belong to the world of the shinigami. She is only weak trash, like everyone else. In fact, she needed to feel only anger and disappointment over her friends' stupidity for getting themselves killed in the first place for her sake. This is exactly what I told her when announcing that one of her comrades had fallen from battle already. But instead of agreeing with me and opening her senses, she does something else that even I wouldn't expect from a human—she smacked me. She, a hopeless idiotic girl, had the audacity to put her small hands against my face, the fourth most powerful arrancar. And as a response, I simply did—nothing. Nothing at all.

Why did I let her smack me like that? I saw her coming my way, saw her every moving motion when raising her arm. And yet, I stood there and allowed it to happen. Was it because I immediately grew infatuation of the new spark that shone in her eyes over what I said? We both know that I could have easily ripped off that same arm for her actions. Normally, I'd be happy to oblige of doing so. Instead, I made her have her way and let the moment happen. She truly is one strange human indeed. Despite that…..she can be one strong girl when she wants to. And I'll remember that. Nonetheless, she is still considered as trash.

But she isn't alone. Out of the rest of those imprudent comrades of hers, the orange-haired soul reaper is just as worse. Ichigo Kurasaki. He is the one that led all of them into our territory for the woman's rescue, another foolish amateur that doesn't know his own limitations. What makes the substitute shinigami more pathetic is his stubborn, naïve, and ridiculous determination for fighting. It is his ego that leads him to his flaws and doom toward his enemies. I proved that theory when encountering him again, taking a small amount of time for finishing him off.

But as much as I hate to admit it…the boy also strikes an interesting impression in Hueco Mundo. It is his spiritual pressure and essence that makes it hard to believe he's still human as well. His unusually heavy, strong aura is even greater than most soul reapers, almost greater than mine. And that exact spirituality can mark him as an equal to an espada. But he's not close of being a match for Lord Aizen, and never will be.

I also notice that Kurosaki is the woman's main attraction with her worries. Whatever reason she care for him strongly than the others, I don't know and don't care. Overall, my job is to make sure the woman is kept alive until otherwise for Lord Aizen's plan. And I will continue to eliminate whoever interference with us. The winter war is approaching very shortly. Once the Hyoukoro is completely resurrected, our lord will claim victory and become the new god of both worlds. No living soul, or shinigami, or a human-turned-shinigami has a chance against us. They are, and forever will be, trash.

* * *

Humph. I suppose that's it. I never believed that I could be defeated by a mere human-turned-hollow. Despite all of my efforts and unlimited releases of my powers, he continued the will of becoming my true equal. The soul reaper officially proved he is a worthy opponent. Even in death, as he arose from the dead and became the other equal to my true resurrected form. A fully fledged hallow. He was no longer the same person that I degraded as trash, mind, body, and soul. He demonstrated the way a true death god is supposed to be; unremorseful, unforgiving, and punishing. But I don't care. I no longer have any reason to continue living since I claim defeat.

And yet, the moment when he turned against the woman and the Quincy, something made me want to stop him on his tracks. Something possessed me to return him from his demonic hallow state. As he returned to his human state, he surprises me one final time with his haughty ego; he shows me his conduct of honor. He chooses not to kill me because of our different conditions we were in for a fair fight. Even when I suggested finishing me off before vanishing to dust, he refused to deliver the final blow. The soul reaper was truly a warrior of word and conduct of honor. How stubborn he is indeed, for he never does anything I want him to. For some reason…I didn't feel the need to call him trash anymore. These people were finally starting to become…..interesting.

And so is she.

Then again, she has always been that way for a human. I see that now. My eye, no, _both_ of my eyes starts to make me see new things that I never believe could exist. And those things appear when I turned to face her. It's all around her presence. Still in my demonic form, I expected her to show tremendous fear when I looked at her. But she doesn't. She doesn't hesitate, not even flinch from my sight. Instead, she only stares back with a hint of distress and something new that I never seen in her eyes. Warmth mixed with sadness. And for some reason, I became mesmerized by those eyes right then and there. The powerful, fearless espada in Las Noches has fallen prey to a mortal girl. How the mighty have fallen.

But it's different now. I'm not having any resentment or growing hatred from all of this. Why is that though? What is this sudden, sharp, and growing….emotion? Am I starting to experience something that only humans are allowed to have? Ridiculous. Emotions are unrealistic, unseeing and untouchable. I am not human; therefore it's impossible for me to have these qualities. So what is it that makes me want to turn to her now?

"Are you afraid of me….woman?" I asked her, feeling the rush of my damaged body evaporating into dust. I don't know what made me ask her that question. Nor do I know why I continued standing, patiently waiting for an answer. And she gave me one that I never thought I would hear, with those same warm, compassionate eyes.

"No. I am not afraid" she tells me. Suddenly, I felt the desire to extend my remaining arm to her, reaching her with the last ounce of strength that my hand had to offer. And though I didn't show it, I was relieved that she was acting the same way. So close. So close to touching those tender fingers, to feel the warmth of her flesh. I don't know what it is, but I'm desperate to find this one last thing before perishing. And it seems that my wish came true, as the tips of my ash fingers collide with hers. And I finally see the one thing she once stated that grants her spirit strength and growth, along with the rest of her friends.

The human heart. I see it now. This is the one thing that she's been talking about. Who would think that it is more than just an ordinary organ within a body? That very same glow was with her all along, since the day I brought her here in Hueco Mundo. Perhaps, this is the source to her fighting spirit and irreplaceable existence for her people? Yes. Yes it is. I understand now. What a strange human indeed. But she's a strange human that I will never forget. My body is fully disappearing to whatever dimension my soul will go. I am truly dying. But I don't care anymore, in a good way. With our fingers meeting each other, parts of the 'heart' is going with me. I am no longer the creature that I was. No longer am I a slave to Lord Aizen, or a slave to the world of the dead and the unfeeling. I am finally free. Because of her.

For the first time, I feel as though….these tears on my face have finally stopped falling.

And I smile. Thank you, Orihime Inoue.


End file.
